Is death of Dogra culture imminent?

Maj Gen S K Sharma (Retd)
J&K was a very powerful Dogra State ruled by a Dogra king till 1947 with Dogri as its official language. But when it joined Indian Union and Sheikh Abdullah was made its Prime Minister, Dogra culture got a hit and started declining. In an interview aired on 4th August 2024 on JK24x7News TV channel, Dr. Karan Singh, who had been Sadr-i-Riyasat and Governor of J&K during 1947 onward said, “Sheikh Abdullah was Anti-Dogra who has abused Dogras a number of times”.
Negative narrative about Dogras
During the tenure of Sheikh Abdulla as Prime Minister of J&K from 1947 to 1953 and as Chief Minister from 1974 till 1982, he made sure that Dogri language is neither given an official status at the national or the state levels. Besides, a very strong negative narrative was built in the society depicting Dogras are Dungers (animals), Grayyeens (villagers) and anpad (illiterate). This resulted in an inferiority complex among Dogras themselves and they started shunning Dogri and learning other languages like Urdu etc.
No Dogri Books
Dogri textbooks for classes 3rd, 4th, 5th and onwards are not issued free to the students in govt. schools. As per the “Right of Children to Free Education Act 2009”, books of all subjects are provided free in over 20,000 Govt schools in J&K for all the subjects but not for Dogri subject.
JK Board of School Education, when contacted, told that neither govt. of J&K nor Samagra Shiksha J&K release funds for Dogri books. So, the National Education Policy-2020, as per which, mother tongue is to be taught at least up class 5th is being flouted. Govt. is not taking any cognizance of it.
No Dogri Teachers
On 19 June 2024, Govt of J&K (School Education) advertised vacancies for 748 schoolteachers/coordinators for various subjects like English, Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri etc. For the subject of Dogri, they did not advertise even a single vacancy, where for Urdu there are 88 vacancies and for Kashmiri language there are 10.
During a joint press conference of Dogri Sanstha and Team Jammu, on 4th August 2024, Prof Lalit Mangotra, and Sh. Zoravar Singh, Presidents these organizations, expressed disappointment on Govt’s neglect of Dogri despite being a national as well as state language today. Besides, they said that there are only 6 Dogri teachers in 400 higher secondary schools in Jammu district, while 24 positions were lying vacant and remain unfilled till date.
Likely Closure of Dogri Dept in University
As the Govt is not worried about the declining number of students and Dogri teachers in the schools, there will not be any employment opportunities for Dogri qualified candidates. This will lead to reduction of students opting for Dogri in MA and PhD degrees. And a time will come when the Dept of Dogri, in the University of Jammu may have to be wound up.
Is this situation acceptable to society? Can the rich and vibrant culture of Dogras be forced to die down like this.
No Dogra Satellite Channel
To strengthen the local culture and keep the society informed about the latest happenings around them as well as in the world, most of the 22 languages listed in the Schedule 8 of the Indian Constitution have been provided with dedicated satellite channels.
There are 35 satellite channels in the country catering for 22 scheduled languages. Dogri language has been left out even though the population of Dogri speaking citizens in J&K is over 30 lakhs. It is surprising to see that the cultures/states with population even less than Dogra population have been provided with a dedicated satellite channel. Examples are Mizo (11 lakh population), Bodo (14 lakhs), Manipuri (15 lakhs), Konkani (22 lakhs), Nagas (22 lakhs), Nepali (29 lakhs) etc.
Resultant Effect
As per one estimate, the number of Dogri speaking population in the city of Jammu has reduced to just 10% out of which 1% are the youth and 9% are senior citizens. This means that by the time India celebrates its 100th years of Independence in 2047, Dogri would have become extinct, or its population may be restricted to small pockets only.
Saving Dogra Culture
To save Dogra culture becoming extinct by turn of the century, drastic actions are required by various segments of the society including the govt, a few suggested ones are as under:
By Youth: Students of Jammu province must impress their teachers and the school authorities to allow them to study Dogri language till class 12th. College students must also take at least one minor subject of Dogri irrespective of their main discipline of study whether it is science, arts, commerce etc.
By School Teachers: They should motivate all Dogra students to take Dogri as their first subject. They should also apprise the school authorities of the provisions of NEP-2020, under which all the subjects till class 5th are to be taught in mother tongue which is Dogri for Jammuites.
By School Owners and Principals: They should employ at least one Dogri language teacher in their schools. Also make sure that all the students are taught Dogri at least till class 5th and preferably till class 12th.
By College Principals: They should ensure that 100% of the students in their college take at least one subject of Dogri language. Let it be a 2 or 3 credit subject teaching Dogra history.
By Vice Chancellors of Universities: VCs of the four universities in Jammu province are non-Dogras. Lt. Governor J&K has reposed faith in them and brought them to this Dogra land. I am certain they understand this, and I feel it is one of their prime duties to ensure that the culture of this land does not die down during their tenure of 3-5 years as VC. It is desired they motivate all the students to take at least one subject teaching Dogra history. This is in line with the provisions of NEP-2020.
Besides this, every student studying in PG course (Dogra and non-Dogra students) must be asked to opt for at least one Dogri subject keeping in view the NEP-2020 and Bhasha Sangham initiatives issued by Govt of India.
Govt Officials: JK BOSE must frame syllabus in line with the NEP-2020 and ensure that Dogri subject in given its due place. Project Director Samagra Shiksha and Administrative Secretary should allocate sufficient funds for Dogri textbooks which are to be given free to the students studying up to class 8th in govt schools. Directorate of School Education, Jammu must fill up all the vacant posts of Dogri teachers. They should also ensure that each High and Higher Secondary school is authorized and posted with at least one Dogri language teacher.
Conclusion
It is high time that civil society takes cognizance of the damage done to the Dogri language till date. They must resort to all the peaceful but assertive methods at the ground level and ensure that the potent and rich culture of Dogras does not die down abruptly.
(The author is a former member of SMVD Shrine Board)

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